Tag: against odds

Should you be in prison? Statistics provide predictive clues about children who when subject to certain sets of variables will end up suffering a premature death, commit suicide, or end up living a life behind bars, possibly even death row.

Keeping in mind that people are not statistics, and there are always objections to the rules, there are certain situations of lifestyles which when you see a child having to succumb to these circumstances can turn nearly anyone into an armchair prognosticator.

With hindsight being 20/20, we can review the lives and lifestyles of adults who have been incarcerated, unexpectedly arrived in emergency rooms, or prematurely registered to mortuaries.

What you find, as you might have expected, is that many of these adults lived underprivileged lives in their youth. If a child’s life is impoverished, and lacking in many areas of life, such as strong parenting figures, positive support systems, and self-esteem, this increases the chances of having trouble later in life.

This is the stereotypical observation.

The data which you might find shocking is that many adults whose lives end prematurely, live lives either revolving through the legal system or spend life behind bars, were raised in families that were thought to be privileged.

Their families lived in nice homes, lived in better areas of town. Their homes had well-manicured lawns, with nice cars in the driveway. These kids wore designer clothes, went to the best schools, got good grades, and participated in sanctioned extracurricular school activities, were members of the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, and reached high levels of achievement in and outside the classrooms.

While there are hundreds of variables, some of the most common ones include

Lack of Positive Connection

Positive connection includes spending time commiserating with family and positive role models, not excluding positive human touch. A contemporary term respecting the aspects of positive connection is, “nurturing.”

Children who are denied being able to develop a positive connection with a parent or alternatively other supportive family members may find themselves short-changed as they grow into adulthood.

Connecting with your child takes time, which many successful parents have very little of when running the rat race and trying to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. With many families depending on two incomes, there’s a good chance that there may be no one home when latchkey kids come home from school and learn to fend for themselves.

Touching is a key component in connection, without it babies die. Humans are designed to connect via positive skin-to-skin exchange. So, it’s not enough to be there, you need to be touching.

In contemporary society, the idea of touching a child probably sounded a warning alarm inside your head, because touching a child is bad. And this has set the alarms of many parents initiating a perceived panic and struggle with the idea of maintaining positive physical contact with their offspring (especially those of the opposite gender) to avoid possible misinterpretation or legal ramifications.

Many parents have found themselves trying to explain themselves in front of a judge or have even been incarcerated because someone accused them of inappropriateness in positive physical nurturing of a child.

That would strike fear into the heart of any law-abiding loving parent.

The child is left to pay the price for this lack of nurturing as they approach adulthood and continue to have to find ways to cope in a world that is out of control.

Even so, there are children who have faced the worst of circumstances in their early years, who come from the most modest, even severely abusive childhoods who become powerful members of society.

These are the unsung heroes.

If you knew the details of their childhoods, you might ask them, “Should you be in prison?”

Statistically, maybe so, but these people found the wherewithal to go against the odds, take charge of their own lives, and decided not to become a statistic.

If that’s you, I thank God for you and admire you for taking the high road to live a better life, your best life, and make the world a better place.

The Best Story Ever is yours

Even if your story has been magnificent up ‘til now the best story ever is yet to come.

But… but… but, you say…

My life is in shambles

I’ve hit rock bottom

I can’t make it one more day

To which, I say:

Awesome!

And before you get the chance to ask me if I’ve lost my mind, I remind you:

The Best Story Ever Starts That Way

Think about it. Don’t we cheer for the hero of the best story ever, when all seems lost, when it appears there is no chance and he or she is exhausted, left for dead, and hoping that their next breath would be their last?

It’s impossible

I just can’t do it

Whether we’re turning the page or sitting in a theater on the edge of the seat, we’re waiting, anticipating, even praying for the hero of the best story ever… While we can’t wait to see

What Happens Next

If you’re in the depths of despair, have lost it all and can’t imagine having the will to go on, then

Congratulations!

In all the best books, best movies and the greatest stories ever told, if not the opening scene, this moment – the moment that you are experiencing, right now – is the pivotal moment in the best story ever. And YOU are the hero.

This is how to start a story that captivates and mesmerizes all who gain access, whether it’s around a campfire, seen on the big screen, on stage, television, read in a printed book or online, your situation is among the best scenes in all great stories.

A few of the best scenes from movies exemplifying this type of pivotal moment that quickly come to mind include Alien, Amélie, Back to the Future, Die Hard, E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator, Gravity, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, It’s a Wonderful Life, Indiana Jones, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings, Rocky, Star Wars, Still Alice, The Matrix, The Princess Bride, The Terminator, and I could go on and on… and I think you could think of some, too…

Whether your pivotal moment leads to an instantaneous resolution or opens up an entirely new journey to unfold is yet to be seen but one thing’s for certain, something far greater than could ever be imagined in that critical point in time lies just beyond.

When all is lost, you are left for dead face-down on the mat and you can barely hear the referee (who sounds somewhat like the Grim Reaper) begins the long count,

One

When you can’t find the will to go on and you think you might just be better off dead…

Two

You try to move your body, but can feel it unresponsive…

Three

You review your decision to bet it all on this match, and where did that get you? Here?

Four

You think of all the promises you made… Now, that all is lost…

Five

Your past flashes in your mind; there have been good times and bad…

Six

It feels like it would be okay to let it go. At least death would be the end of the pain.

Seven

One last look before your unsaid, “goodbye,” and you’re out for good…

Eight

As you find the strength to open a small slit in your eye, the initial blinding flash of light fades and you see…

Nine

Whatever it is that you see in that moment ushers in hope and determination to go on, as you push yourself up from the mat